Mets lose Maine to shoulder injury

August 26, 2008

John Maine was put on the 15-day disabled list yesterday because of a bone spur in his right shoulder, leaving the New York Mets without a key starter as they head into September looking to erase the memory of last year's disastrous stretch run. Maine said a cortisone shot Thursday did not help. Mets general manager Omar Minaya said surgery is the only way to fix the problem but even though it is a minor operation, Maine (10-8) would not have enough time to recover to pitch again this season. Instead, Maine will hold off from any throwing for at least a week . . . The Minnesota Twins are bringing back Eddie Guardado, acquiring the veteran reliever from the Texas Rangers for a minor league pitcher. Guardado, 37, was 3-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 49 1/3 innings for Texas, which recently made him its closer after an injury to C.J. Wilson. Guardado has 187 career saves, 116 with Minnesota, where he played from 1993-03. He'll help in the eighth inning, a problem for the Twins this season after setup man Pat Neshek hurt his elbow and landed on the disabled list. Righthander Frank Francisco will take over the closer's role for Texas . . . Johnny Cueto has a strained right elbow and will miss at least one start for the Cincinnati Reds. Cueto lasted only three innings in a 4-3 loss to the Rockies Sunday, leaving with soreness in his pitching arm . . . Struggling Orioles righthander Daniel Cabrera will get an MRI on his pitching elbow after an examination by team orthopedist John Wilckens was inconclusive.

Barry Bonds asked a federal judge in San Francisco to toss out most of the government's case against him that charges the slugger lied to a federal grand jury about his alleged steroids use. In a filing made in US District Court, lawyers for baseball's home run king argue that many of the charges stem from ambiguous answers to ambiguous questions posed by prosecutors . . . Former Red Sox players Carl Mays, Vern Stephens, and Wes Ferrell and former Yankees Allie Reynolds and Joe Gordon and are among 10 players whose careers began before 1943 who will be considered by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee when it meets Dec. 7 . . . Five more players, including four in the Dominican Summer League, were suspended for 50 games apiece for testing positive for banned performance-enhancers under baseball's minor league drug program. The suspended Dominican Summer League players were Dodgers shortstop Rafael Aybar, Marlins pitcher Alfredo Buret, Orioles pitcher Julio Sanchez, and Twins outfielder Eliel Sierra. Cardinals catcher Juan Castillo, assigned to the rookie Gulf Coast League, also tested positive.

The Southeastern Conference has signed a 15-year deal with ESPN reportedly worth more than $2 billion to televise sporting events, including football and men's and women's basketball. The agreement is the longest ESPN has ever signed and matches the length of the powerhouse league's deal with CBS earlier in August. The deal begins with the 2009-10 season and ends the league's look into starting a network to carry its sporting events. ESPN will have rights to every SEC home football game not on the network package and all league matchups will be shown on some outlet, including at least 20 a year on ESPN or ESPN2 . . . Southern Cal quarterback Mark Sanchez went through his first full practice since dislocating his left kneecap 17 days earlier, and appears on track to start Saturday's season-opener at Virginia . . . The NCAA has turned down Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk's latest appeal for another year of eligibility, but granted him one more chance to plead his case before a reinstatement committee. Mauk is asking for another season because of injuries that cost him playing time as a freshman for Wake Forest . . . Elena Delle Donne, one of the nation's top basketball recruits, has enrolled at Delaware and joined its volleyball team as a non-scholarship member, less than a week after she was released from her basketball scholarship at the University of Connecticut.

Kentucky horse racing regulators approved a sweeping steroid ban for the state's thoroughbred and standardbred races but dramatically toned down the proposed penalties for trainers whose horses test positive. With a unanimous vote of confidence from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, the steroid ban could take effect in time for next year's Kentucky Derby. But instead of going along with the state Equine Drug Research Council's recommendation for suspensions of up to three years for trainers and veterinarians whose horses fail a steroid test, the authority capped the penalties at a 60-day suspension for first-time offenders . . . Fidel Castro defended the Cuban taekwondo athlete who kicked a referee in the face at the Beijing Olympics, saying Angel Matos was rightfully indignant over his disqualification from the bronze medal match. Taekwondo officials want Matos and his coach banned for life from the sport. But Castro expressed "total solidarity" for both Matos and coach Leudis Gonzalez, who claimed the match was fixed . . . NBC's coverage of the Beijing Games averaged 27.7 million viewers, 13 percent better than the 2004 Athens Olympics and the best viewership for an Olympics outside the United States since Montreal in 1976 . . . Veteran NHL defenseman Bryan Berard will attempt to make an NHL club on a tryout contract, after being invited to training camp with the Philadelphia Flyers. Berard, 31, had five goals and 17 assists in 54 games with the Islanders last season . . . The Dallas Mavericks re-signed forward Devean George, nearly six months after the veteran player blocked a trade to the New Jersey Nets . . . Cy Kilgore of Peabody shot an even-par 70 at Tedesco CC in Marblehead to head a group of five New England golfers who qualified for the US Senior Amateur. Joining Kilgore will be Ray Richard (72) of Sagamore, Joseph Keller (72) of Osterville, Paul Murphy (72) of Arlington, and Paul Nunez Jr. (73) of Holliston. The US Senior Amateur will be played Sept. 20-25 in Fort Worth.